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I had a chuckle reading the paragraph below and comparing it to the modern ecosystem of HTML5, JS, SPAs and so on: The HTML 4.0 specification is a huge, intens

I had a chuckle reading the paragraph below and comparing it to the modern ecosystem of HTML5, JS, SPAs and so on: The HTML 4.0 specification is a huge, intensely technical document that contains hundreds of different elements and can have all sorts of applications. It is at times difficult to understand. This is not an error on behalf of the authors. In fact, very few people are expected to read the specification; HTML was originally intended to be a document format that the author wouldn't learn or see, but something that would be created by programs designed for this task.

hoyd 4y ago
That's amazing, thanks.
jefftk 4y ago
Note that this paragraph is not one of the "margin notes", but a quotation from the book they're reviewing. Their commentary disagrees: First, the specification can be called large, but hardly huge. It does not contain hundreds of elements, at least if the word "element" is taken in the sense that it is used in the specification. It is hardly true that very few people are expected to read it. The specification contains several introductory and tutorial parts - many of them rather good - which obviously imply that it was written for a wide audience. And the specification itself says, in its About the HTML 4.0 Specification part: > This document has been written with two types of readers in mind: authors and implementors. We hope the specification will provide authors with the tools they need to write efficient, attractive, and accessible documents, without over-exposing them to HTML's implementation details. And who says HTML was not intended to be writeable and readable by humans? There seems to a rumor that Tim Berners-Lee himself has said something like that, but if that's true, perhaps someone did not get the joke.
kaichanvong 4y ago
I know right! It's full of that kind of expression of love. It took me back to being in a club while studying. One guy, and his brother... chat lots about how they were looking forward to doing stuff. His T-Shirt was about chatting HTML, all these amazing helpful different parts, almost looked German to me. It's a part of technology, build that I appreciate from that part. Could be the Japanese film Wind Rises, I don't know

hoyd 4y ago

That's amazing, thanks.

jefftk 4y ago

Note that this paragraph is not one of the "margin notes", but a quotation from the book they're reviewing. Their commentary disagrees: First, the specification can be called large, but hardly huge. It does not contain hundreds of elements, at least if the word "element" is taken in the sense that it is used in the specification. It is hardly true that very few people are expected to read it. The specification contains several introductory and tutorial parts - many of them rather good - which obviously imply that it was written for a wide audience. And the specification itself says, in its About the HTML 4.0 Specification part: > This document has been written with two types of readers in mind: authors and implementors. We hope the specification will provide authors with the tools they need to write efficient, attractive, and accessible documents, without over-exposing them to HTML's implementation details. And who says HTML was not intended to be writeable and readable by humans? There seems to a rumor that Tim Berners-Lee himself has said something like that, but if that's true, perhaps someone did not get the joke.

kaichanvong 4y ago

I know right! It's full of that kind of expression of love. It took me back to being in a club while studying. One guy, and his brother... chat lots about how they were looking forward to doing stuff. His T-Shirt was about chatting HTML, all these amazing helpful different parts, almost looked German to me. It's a part of technology, build that I appreciate from that part. Could be the Japanese film Wind Rises, I don't know